


Heinrich Stays

by smooth_operaptor



Series: whumptober [3]
Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: "Jeremy is a turncoat" theory, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Minor Character Death, Whumptober 2018, gratuitous german bc I can, waypoint xcom streams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 13:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16285751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smooth_operaptor/pseuds/smooth_operaptor
Summary: Heinrich stayed when nobody else would





	Heinrich Stays

**Author's Note:**

> as always thanks to Jude!! you inspire me to do 100% of the work I do in this fandom :D  
> check out [this great heinrich photoset I made](https://twitter.com/Wunder_wirker/status/1021705541205323776) if you haven't seen it yet

Lieutenant Christian Elliot was the first to evac.

Heinrich considered his options. He was up on the bridge, relatively safe from the pile of Advent reinforcements that had dropped in. But he couldn’t see what was happening to his other comrades below. Corporal Roberts had died minutes ago, the new healer, Corporal Turner, was out in the open, and he thought he’d heard Corporal McKenzie drop for sure. No clue whether he was dead or not. He had only moments to decide who to help. Them or himself.

Gottverfickte Scheiße.

Heinrich would stay.

Turner was still up and it was only a cat’s jump to the evac zone. 

That left McKenzie. He jumped down the overpass. Heinrich used his moment of surprise to leap past the Advent soldier and check on the heap of person with a gun he knew to be their Grenadier. No person should look crumpled up like that.

He hefted McKenzie onto his shoulders and clamped his hand over the other’s wrist to count his heartbeat. He hoped that the fluttering tattoo against his fingers wasn’t his imagination. Or his own pulse in his thumb.

„Come on, stay with me,“ he urged. McKenzie was a dead weight like a sack of potatoes. No matter. He would get him out here alive.

There were few places to hide within his reach before the Advent troops would hit back. It was too risky to bring McKenzie somewhere far away to safety. Heinrich couldn’t move.

He rushed them as fast as he could into the metal container next to them. His breath echoed too sharply there. At least he could see the evac zone from here. They would get him, even if he stayed still. But, as they said. Hope died last.

The container tremored slightly when the Advent robot moved. Heinrich watched them reload, but they didn’t yet shoot. Why was Turner just _standing_ there? The other had an even better path to the evac.

„I’m being flanked!“

One of the three Stun Lancers whacked Turner over the head with their baton. Probably. Turner was just out of sight from where Heinrich stood, but he could hear the full-body thud.

„I go out… like _this_!“

Before he had time to process the possible death of his teammate, another Lancer barged into the container. Heinrich gasped and his chest seized up. He had the metal wall behind him, left was the corner, right a bunch of pipes and tanks. Archie McKenzie’s life rested on his shoulders. Heinrich planted his feet and pulled McKenzie down with him, hopefully far enough to evade the attack.

The baton sizzled centimeters close to his face and hit a tank next to them. He took a half-step back and his back hit the wall. Now was his moment to run.

There was an excruciating pain in his back. McKenzie was thrust forward against the back of his head and he nearly bit his tongue. His arms and legs were on pins and needles and his core cramped. He grit his teeth and waited for it to subside.

The Lancer in front of him shrieked something and gestured, but didn’t attack again. Heinrich spat some blood at their feet. This really couldn’t get any worse, he should just take this chance. He marched right past them into the evac zone. Every Advent soldier turned to watch him, but still didn’t attack. He looked back at them.

Turner lay between him and the robot. No way to see if he was breathing. There was no blood. He looked up at the Firebrand and waved.

Wait. If he got McKenzie onto the Firebrand, he couldn‘t go back for Turner. They had been caught by this group of reinforcements, there were sure to be more on the way. He slung his arm around the rope.

Kacke verdammte! He hoped against hope that Jeremy Turner was dead.

„I’m outta here.“


End file.
